1 On 19 July 1979, the Atlantic Empress spilled 42.

7 million gallons of oil as the result

of a collision with the Aegean Captain in the Caribbean Sea near Trinidad-Tobago. In
this incident, the Aegean Captain spilled 4.31 million gallons of oil. On 2 August
1979, while under tow from the original spill site, the Atlantic Empress spilled an
additional 41.5 million gallons.
2 In this incident the vessel sank with some of its cargo still onboard after spilling an
undetermined amount of oil. The spill size reported reflects the total amount of oil
spilled and oil left onboard the sinking vessel. Estimates of the two amounts are not
available.
3 The records of the 20 March 1970 Othello spill have been the subject of controversy.
The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) claims that the spill
size could be no larger than 25,000 gallons and that the vessel recorded as the
tanker Othello is probably the freighter Otello (DWT 4,376) listed in the 1970-1971
Lloyd's List. A vessel of this size would have a maximum oil-carrying capacity of
1.35 million gallons. A number of other sources, however, report the spill size to be
as large as 30.7 million gallons. Several reports indicate that the oil formed huge
blobs that sank below the water, leaving only about 10 cm of the oil exposed on the
surface. The bay was covered with 60-cm-deep ice except in the shipping channel.
Since a large part of the oil disappeared below the ice and the surface of the water,
estimates of spill volume were difficult to make.
4 This vessel was "scuttled" -- deliberately sunk -- with some of its cargo still onboard
after salvage efforts failed. The volume of oil spilled versus the amount sunk within
the vessel are not available.
5 ITOPF gives the spill amount as 76.44 million gallons, which includes all oil left
onboard the tanker when it sank. It is unclear how much oil burned, spilled into the
water, or sank.

Table 2: Oil Spills Involving More Than 10 Million Gallons

(courtesy of "Oil Spill Intelligence Report")

Rank Incident Millions of

Gallons

1 26 January 1991; terminals, tankers; 8 sources total Sea 240.0

Island installations; Kuwait; off coast in Persian Gulf and in
Saudi Arabia
2 03 June 1979; exploratory well Ixtoc I well; Mexico; Gulf of 140.0
Mexico, Bahia Del Campeche, 80 km NW of Ciudad del
Carmen, Campeche
3 02 March 1992; oil well; Uzbekistan; Fergana Valley 88.0

4 04 February 1983; platform No. 3 well (Nowruz); Iran; 80.0

Persian Gulf, Nowruz Field
5 06 August 1983; tanker Castillo de Bellver; South Africa; 78.5
Atlantic Ocean, 64km off Table Bay
6 16 March 1978; tanker Amoco Cadiz; France; Atlantic 68.7
Ocean, off Portsall, Brittany
7 10 November 1988; tanker Odyssey; Canada; North 43.1
Atlantic Ocean, 1,175 km NE of Saint John's,
 Newfoundland
8 19 July 1979; tanker Atlantic Empress; Trinidad and 42.71
Tobago; Caribbean Sea, 32 km northeast of Trinidad-
Tobago
9 01 August 1980; production well D-103 concession well; 42.0
800 km southeast of Tripoli, Libya
10 11 April 1991; tanker Haven; Italy; Mediterranean Sea, port 42.0
of Genoa
11 02 August 1979; tanker Atlantic Empress; 450 km east of 41.51
Barbados
12 18 March 1967; tanker Torrey Canyon; United Kingdom; 38.2
Lands End
13 19 December 1972; tanker Sea Star; Oman; Gulf of Oman 37.9

14 23 February 1980; tanker Irenes Serenade; Greece; 36.6

Mediterranean Sea, Navarino Bay, off Pylos port
15 07 December 1971; tanker Texaco Denmark; Belgium; 31.5
North Sea
16 23 February 1977; tanker Hawaiian Patriot; United States; 31.22
Pacific Ocean 593 km west of Kauai Island, Hawaii
17 20 August 1981; storage tanks; Kuwait; Shuaybah 31.2

18 25 October 1994; pipeline Kharyaga-Usinsk Pipeline; 30.7

Russia; Usinsk
19 15 November 1979; tanker Independentza; Turkey, 28.9
Bosporus Strait near Istanbul, 0.8 km from Hydarpasa port
20 11 February 1969; tanker Julius Schindler; Portugal; Ponta 28.4
Delgada, Azores Islands
21 12 May 1976; tanker Urquiola; Spain; La Coruña Harbor 28.1
port
22 25 May 1978; pipeline No. 126 well and pipeline; Iran; 28.0
Ahvazin
23 05 January 1993; tanker Braer; United Kingdom; Garth 25.0
Ness, Shetland Islands
24 29 January 1975; tanker Jakob Maersk; Portugal; Porto de 24.3
Leisoes, Oporto
25 06 July 1979; storage tank Tank #6; Nigeria; Forcados 23.9

26 03 December 1992; double-bottom tanker Aegean Sea; 21.9

Spain; La Coruña harbor port
27 06 December 1985; tanker Nova; Iran; Persian Gulf, 140 21.4
km south of Kharg Island
28 15 February 1996; tanker Sea Empress; United Kingdom; 21.3
Mill Bay near entrance to Milford Haven Harbor port
29 27 February 1971; tanker Wafra; South Africa; Atlantic 20.2
Ocean
30 11 December 1978; fuel storage depot; Zimbabwe (then 20.0
Rhodesia); Salisbury
31 19 December 1989; tanker Khark 5; Morocco; Atlantic 20.0
Ocean, 185 km from Moroccan coast
32 20 March 1970; freighter Othello; Sweden; Tralhavet Bay 18.03
east of Vaxholm
33 13 May 1975; tanker Epic Colocotronis; United States; 18.0
Caribbean Sea, 111 km northwest of Puerto Rico
34 12 June 1978; storage tanks; Japan; Sendai (offshore 17.7
Miyagi prefecture)
35 06 December 1960; tanker Sinclair Petrolore; Brazil 17.6

36 07 January 1983; tanker Assimi; Oman; Gulf of Oman, Ras 15.8

al Hadd, 93 km from Muscat
37 09 November 1974; tanker Yuyo Maru No. 10; Japan; 15.84
Tokyo Bay, Honshu Island
38 28 May 1991; tanker ABT Summer; Angola; open water 15.05
1,287 km off coast in the Atlantic Ocean
39 26 April 1992; tanker Katina P.; South Africa; Indian Ocean, 15.0
180 km east of Durban
40 22 May 1965; tanker Heimvard; Japan; Pacific Ocean, 14.7
Hokkaido Island
41 31 December 1978; tanker Andros Patria; Spain; Bay of 14.6
Biscay off Cape Villano, Spain
42 13 June 1968; tanker World Glory; South Africa; Indian 14.2
Ocean, 105 km east Durban
43 13 January 1975; tanker British Ambassador; Japan; 14.22
Pacific Ocean, 333 km west of Iwo Jima Island
44 09 December 1983; tanker Pericles GC; Qatar; Persian 14.0
Gulf, 30 km east-northeast of Doha
45 09 August 1974; tanker Metula; Chile; Straits of Magellan, 13.9
Satellite Bank port
46 01 June 1970; tanker Ennerdale; Seychelles; Indian Ocean 13.8

47 07 December 1978; tanker Tadotsu; Indonesia; Strait of 13.2

Malacca, near Dumai
48 29 February 1968; tanker Mandoil; United States; Pacific 12.6
Ocean, off Columbia River, near Warrenton, Oregon
49 18 December 1974; refinery storage tank Mizushima 11.6
Refinery; Japan; Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Seto Inland Sea
50 10 June 1973; tanker Napier; Chile; Southeast Pacific 11.3
Ocean off west coast of Chile
51 26 August 1979; ore/bulk/oil carrier Patianna; United Arab 11.2
Emirates; Persian Gulf, 11 km off Dubai
52 11 June 1972; tanker Trader; Greece; Mediterranean Sea 11.0
off east coast Greece
53 24 March 1989; tanker Exxon Valdez; United States; 11.0
Prince William Sound, Valdez, Alaska
54 29 December 1980; tanker Juan Antonio Lavalleja; Algeria; 11.0
Arzew Harbor
55 21 October 1994; tanker Thanassis A.; Hong Kong; South 10.9
China Sea, 700 km off coast in international waters
56 19 October 1978; pipeline; Turkey; Mardin 10.7

57 01 November 1979; tanker Burmah Agate; United States; 10.7

Gulf of Mexico, 6.4 km off entrance to Galveston Bay,
Texas
58 22 April 1988; tanker Athenian Venture; Canada; Atlantic 10.6
Ocean, 563-644 km SE of Cape Race, Newfoundland
59 07 March 1996; tanker unknown; Mexico; Adolfo Lopez 10.6
Mateo Thermoelectric Plant, Bay of Campeche, Gulf of
Mexico, Tuxpan, Veracruz
60 14 December 1978; storage tank; United States; 10.5
Benuelan, Puerto Rico
61 07 February 1977; tanker Borag; Taiwan; East China Sea, 10.4
3 km north of Chilung
62 23 October 1986; production well well Abkatun 91; Mexico; 10.4
Gulf of Mexico, Bahía de Campeche, 64 km NW of Ciudad
del Carmen, Campeche
63 06 February 1976; tanker St. Peter (Saint Peter); 10.32
Colombia; Pacific Ocean, 56 km west of Punta Manglares
64 28 April 1979; ore/bulk carrier Gino; France; Atlantic 10.1
Ocean, Ile d'Ouessant, 64 km off Brittany
65 27 April 1986; storage tank Refineria Las Minas; Panama; 10.1
Colón, Las Minas Bay (Bahía Las Minas)